MOBILE, Alabama – Murphy volleyball coach Nancy Shoquist knew she had been nominated for the AHSAA Sports Hall of Fame.

She just didn’t expect to be chosen.

“When (AHSAA director) Steve Savarese called and told me, I was thrilled,” she said.

Shoquist was honored last week in Montgomery with 11 other inductees as part of the Hall’s 24th class.

She is one of a handful of coaches in the state to have won more than 1,000 volleyball matches.After the 2013 season, her total stands at 1,068.

Murphy's Nancy Shoquist has won 1,068 volleyball matches in her career with the Panthers and St. Paul's. (Contributed)

“In your career, when you are honored like that, it kind of highlights everything,” Shoquist said. “The whole day and night was really neat. They really do a great job of making you feel special.”

Shoquist is in her 32nd year of coaching, including 30 years of coaching volleyball. The Mobile native and Fairhope High graduate coached her first 21 years at St. Paul’s and the last 11 with the Panthers.

Her volleyball teams won state titles in 1984, 1985, 1986, 1992 and 1995 and finished as runner-up in 1990, 1991, 1993, 1994, 1997 and 1998. She also coached five St. Paul’s tennis teams to state titles while seven others finished second.

“During this whole process, I kept thinking about the kids I’ve had in the past and where they’ve all gone to now,” Shoquist said. “I keep in touch with a bunch of them, and they call and come by when they can. The relationships you build with those kids is what makes this job so special.

“You remember the special times you had, the trips you took, the fellowship. My teams always have been extremely close. I had great kids at St. Paul’s and have really been blessed with the kids at Murphy. They surprise me every day.”

After coaching volleyball for 19 years at St. Paul’s, Shoquist stepped away from the sport for two years and coached only the Saints' boys tennis team.

“I was worn out,” she said. “I didn’t feel like I was doing the sport justice. It was getting to the point where I was dreading some parts of it, and that wasn’t fair to the girls. They needed someone fresh and new and exciting, and I guess I needed a little break.”

Two years later, however, Murphy called.

“My husband (Hobie) kept saying I was too competitive to stay out of it, and I would regret giving it up,” she said. “I did some things to fuel my competitive desire. I started mountain biking and doing some triathlons.

“But he was right. I realized I was too competitive not to coach volleyball. Murphy called, and I was ready to go back. When I was just teaching, I didn’t have the same relationship with the girls, and I missed that.”

Shoquist hasn’t won a state championship at Murphy yet but her teams have made it to the state semifinals once and the quarterfinals four times. Her career record is now 1,068-386.

She also said she is not ready to step away from the sport again yet.

“I am still enjoying it,” Shoquist said. “I know I will have to give it up one day, but the kids keep you energized. They come up and say, “When are tryouts, we can’t wait.’ I will take it year by year obviously, but right now I foresee several more years coaching at least.”

Shoquist is a Troy graduate. She got her master’s from South Alabama. In 1990, she became the first female to be inducted into the Fairhope High School Hall of Fame.